Story+1984-08-19+East+Rutherford,+NJ

”Alright, thanks for the lift....”
 * 19.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, after ‘Spirit in the Night’:**

”Thanks....when I was a kid....I lived, uh....I lived on this block where there was our house and then there was a field....and there was a....church.....and there was this woods out in back of my.....my house....and I had this friend who used to live on the other side of the woods and I can remember at night....I used to try to get.....I had it timed perfect so I could leave his house just about dusk and I’d make it through....so I wasn’t in those woods when it was too dark....once I got by the woods then I had to get home and get by my old man....that was.....sometimes that was scarier.....”
 * 19.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘My Father’s House’:**

”(?) this is a song.... about old times....about....how the older you get the more old times you got....now, I got my share.....Big Man, he’s got more than me....but he wears his very well....now, old times....they always look better the farther away they are..... I was watching this Twilight Zone the other night (cheers).....and it was about this guy... he kept thinking ‘bout what a good time he’d had way back when.....and then (plays ‘Outer Limits’).....then he stepped into the twilight zone....and he got sent back to where, where he thought he had such a good time....and everybody was treating him real bad and.....it wasn’t the way he remembered it and everything....so he came back to this own time....now me....I don’t have to go back into the twilight zone.....to know....that in high school when everybody says you were having a great time....I was having a lousy time (cheers).....I didn’t like it at all.....I’m still glad when fall comes around that I don’t have to go back (cheers)....every once in a while I go out....I’d be in some bar....somebody´d come up to me....it was kinda like this....
 * 19.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘Glory Days’:**

”Thanks.....alright....everybody....I think everybody kinda ends up with....with a love-hate....relationship....with the town they grew up in.....you know, I remember when I was....when I was 16, I couldn’t wait....I couldn’t wait to get out, I used to run up to New York City on the weekends and (cheers).....it seemed so narrowminded....when I got older, I really kinda resisted....resisted kinda....maybe taking my place or just admitting that....that whether I liked it or not, I was a part of something (chuckles).... which, uh....I guess what this song is about, this kinda says....that this is our place and....and whether we like it or not, it’s our responsobility....what happens here.... in this town and in this state and in this country (cheers)(chuckles)....and....and we all kinda bear....bear the shame and we bear the glory....of the best and the worst of it....”
 * 19.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘My Hometown’:**

”This is uh....this is a song, uh....about trying to....find something you can hold on to.... that kinda....I remember when I was.....I was 16....I went into this hullabaloo club.... and....I met one of my very best friends, was playing in band there at the time....and uh...I guess the thing that we had in common was we had a lotta faith.....in what we thought that rock and roll could do for people (cheers).....so this is for Little Steven, wherever he may be tonight (cheers).....good luck and God bless you.....”
 * 19.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘No Surrender’:**

There we were....it was a night....just like tonight....except it was raining....and it was hotter....and it was a little later in the summertime....it was a long long time ago....I’d just met the Big Man (cheers)....I was working in a bowling alley setting up the pins, he was working at the gas-station.....on the weekend we just (?) down on Main Street....we didn’t know what we were gonna do with ourselves....we had no direction in our lives ....we had no guidance.....we were lost....we were confused.....we needed some faith....we needed some hope.....we were looking for some love....we needed a couple of girls (cheers)...it was then that the Big Man mentioned that he knew two young ladies....who lived just outside of town....so we got in his Oldsmobile....and we drove south down Route 9 (cheers).....it’s dangerous down there (chuckles)(cheers).... down through Toms River (cheers)....way down to the pines....we were on this dark backroad....and then the unthinkable happened....we had a flat (laughter)....now.... there was no street lights.....clouds covered the moon....we couldn’t see anything outside the car.....we didn’t know whether to roll the windows up....stay in the car till morning.....or get out and see....if we had a spare....so this being a democracy, we decided we’d (?).....I won.....then I went out to see if we had a spare (laughter)....there was nothing in the trunk....and the Big Man then said that he knew.....where there was a gas-station....just....on the other.....side...of those woods (cheers).....so deep into the forest we went....it was dark....it was spooky...there were sounds coming from everywhere (cheers)....we were really getting scared now....we were walking for about 15 minutes down this path.....now, Big Man, there ain’t no like...there never were no like wild animals in New Jersey (?) ?.....mean, they got no like killer chipmunks or.... what about them water snakes ?....no ?....you sure we’re safe ? ....yeah ?....I think....I think I hear something....(?)...I, I hear something behind us ...(yells)...Big Man....oh..... Clarence.....oh, Clarence !.....Hey Clarence !....oh, don’t do that, jeeze, you scared me....I think gremlins got hold of my microphone (cheers) ....it was then.....we seen something come shooting out of the sky....and all of a sudden clouds.....pulled away from the moon.....and in the clearing.....we saw the answer to our quest (cheers)....and we stood there in the moonlight....and then..... when we touched.....”
 * 19.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘Growin’Up’**

”That was for all the kids from Red Bank....”
 * 19.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, after ‘Racing in the Street’:**

‘‘In a little cafe....on the other side of Broad Street.... (....) Alright....ladies and gentlemen....children of all ages.....it’s now my pleasure.....it is now my duty....it is now my responsobility to introduce to you....the wonderful..... members of the E Street Band (cheers)....I would like to begin.....with our newest member....a man we just met in South Jersey....close personal friend of mine....Jim the dancing bear.....don’t worry, ladies and gentlemen, he’s completely docile.... alright.... and now to my far left.....a young man.....who gave up a scholarship....at Yale University....in unusual sexual practises just to be on the 1984 with the E Street Band....you may have read his study of the lost tribes of Hoboken, you may be familiar with his theory of promiscuity, the educated, the dedicated, the only member with a full high school diploma, Professor Roy Bittan (cheers).....(?) alright and next....an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes....the lovely Miss Patti Scialfa (cheers)....and next the gentleman who brings you the thunder from way down under, the man who puts the bass in your face, I’m talking about the one, the only, Mr.Garry W.Tallent (cheers)....and next the master of all the percussive devices.... drummer, author of The Big Beat, the one, the only, the mighty one, Mighty Max Weinberg (cheers)....and now....to my far right.....the inimitable, the inevitable, the unbelievable, the unforgivable, the immoral, the irreprovable, the fantastic....look out girls, he hates to be alone, Phantom Dan Federici on the organ (cheers)....and next the gentleman....who works the entire night.....without the benefit of a net.....drumroll, please....on the guitar, Mr. Nils Lofgren.....(Nils does his stunt on a trampoline) ....(cheers)....that´s incredible.....and now...how can I describe this next gentleman....if you know the answer...to these next questions.....shout out this gentleman’s name.... who’s the man whose cool just grows and grows ? (crowd : ”Clarence!”)....who’s the man whose loop comes and goes ? (crowd: ”Clarence!”).....who’s the apple of my eye ? (crowd : ”Clarence !”)....who, though he’s the king of the world, is a regular kinda guy ? (crowd: ”Clarence!”)....who’s everything that’s near and dear to me ? (crowd: ”Clarence!”)....who’s owed me a 100 bucks since 1963 ? (crowd: ”Clarence!”)....the one, the only, the next President of the United States, ladies and gentlemen, the Big Man, Clarence Clemons (cheers)....”
 * 19.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘Rosalita’:**

”(?) when I was a kid and I heard....heard music of Elvis Presley (cheers)....and the best of rock and roll....that always kinda said just one thing to me and it was a simple thing, it said ‘Let freedom ring.....for everyone everywhere’ (cheers)....this is....this is our hometown so we gotta fight for it every day....”
 * 19.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘Born to Run’:**

´´This is for Obie tonight....I promised (chuckles).....´´
 * 19.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´The Promised Land´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//